In the U.S., there are about 1.5 million nonprofit organizations that experienced a 4.1% growth rate in donations over the past year. With so many nonprofits, it can be challenging to find ways to grow your organization, especially when funds, time or resources are limited.
Thankfully, you can bolster nonprofit growth by using what you already have and taking small internal steps. Here are some practical ways to make small changes for big results.
Make measurable decisions
Being able to specifically measure your progress helps everyone feel more motivated to hit their goals. For example, instead of setting a generic goal of expanding your reach, get specific and set a goal of recruiting 30 new members or collecting an addition 10% in donations from a new target group. This type of goal helps you pinpoint what’s working and what the next steps should be.
Keep your team motivated by sharing and celebrating goal achievements with nonprofit giveaways, such as a wine pourer or reusable straw set.
Test new strategies on a small scale
As your team plans new strategies, start on a small scale before rolling out a full plan. Testing new ideas in a small, specific area can help you determine the best methods to use when you roll out the expanded plan throughout your organization. And if a strategy doesn’t work, it’s a lesson learned without wasting time and resources on a full-scale rollout.
Create a small team of staff members or volunteers who can monitor and keep track of results. This team can conduct surveys and track findings to evaluate the progress of a strategy before reporting back to the entire staff. Creative nonprofit giveaways, such as a planter gift kit with flowers or screen cleaner phone stand, can provide incentives for survey participation.
Reinforce your values and mission
Internal reminders of your mission and values can help keep your team laser-focused on growth results. Reduce distractions with small steps to strengthen values, such as:
- Make your values and mission visible. A banner placed in a high traffic area of your building or T-shirts with your logo and mission keep values top of mind.
- Use existing meeting times for reinforcement. Simply using the first five minutes of recurring meetings to communicate is an easy way to drive home your organization’s message.
- Share concrete examples. Help staff and volunteers gain a deeper understanding of how to live out the values and mission with practical examples. Set aside a few minutes to recognize someone who recently lived your nonprofit’s core values.
Find creative ways to brainstorm
Coming up with a fully developed theme or project in a short period of time can be daunting, especially if your nonprofit doesn’t have a specific team dedicated to such projects. Use what you already have—whether it’s 10-minutes of brainstorming at the end of weekly meetings or running ideas by your already-existing event management or marketing teams. Make the most of the time and resources that are already established.
Make the leap to big nonprofit growth with small steps
Using these ideas for small internal changes to boost nonprofit growth, you’ll be on your way to spreading your mission and reaching goals without having to invest in huge changes.